


Inked

by MiddleTownDreams



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Homophobia, M/M, Soul Mate AU, Tattoos, soul mate tattoos, soul mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-02-27 02:38:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2675837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiddleTownDreams/pseuds/MiddleTownDreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every person is born with a tattoo, the tattoo is always plain and black, no colour or shade. The tattoo is a sign of a person’s soul mate, the outline fills in and shades to finish the tattoo when a person meets their soul mate. The images and colours all represent the person’s soul mate’s personality, it’s like having a part of that person permanently with your body. The tattoos differ in size and placement for everyone. Some have tattoos on their ankle while others have them on their wrist. Some are so small they could be covered with a penny, but others span the body that carry them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I made my own little soul mate au by mixing a few soul mate aus and some tattoo aus. And this is it. I posted it on my tumblr and got a lot of great feedback, and some requests to post it on a site.

“Our bodies were printed as blank pages  
to be filled with the ink of our hearts”  
― Michael Biondi

* * *

 

Every person is born with a tattoo, the tattoo is always plain and black, no colour or shade. The tattoo is a sign of a person’s soul mate, the outline fills in and shades to finish the tattoo when a person meets their soul mate. The images and colours all represent the person’s soul mate’s personality, it’s like having a part of that person permanently with your body. The tattoos differ in size and placement for everyone. Some have tattoos on their ankle while others have them on their wrist. Some are so small they could be covered with a penny, but others span the body that carry them.

Really Zoro thought it was just a bunch shit. His tattoo hadn’t coloured yet, the swirls and fish that covered the expanse of his back and a large portion of his sides remained nothing but black outlines. The tattoos that started from below his shoulders, those were a different story. He’d gotten them done when he was between sixteen and nineteen, he’d asked Usopp to sketch a couple designs, and had gotten them done and coloured. Now when he wore a shirt, it looked like he had met his soul mate, which discouraged the ridiculous romantics who walked around and forced eye contact with any uncoloured person. The unmatched people could get ridiculous, there were so many people who were so focused on finding the person that finished their tattoo that they forgot to live. Zoro had met so many people who refused to sleep with anyone, sometimes even refused a friendly invitation to dance because it was “cheating”. Honestly, Zoro figured it was to your soul mate’s advantage if you had a little experience under your belt. He’d met a few others who felt the same, and had gained that experience. Hopefully his soul mate wasn’t one of the idiot romantics, that would be hell to explain.

Some people were so desperate to find their soul mate they went to “professionals” to get their tattoos read so they had a clue as to what their other half was like. A lot of the idiots were gullible enough to trust anyone who put a sign on a door, and walked away with stupid assumptions that turned out to be completely wrong.

It was in a very public reading place that Zoro sat with his long-time friend Nami, waiting to get his tattoo read. Zoro sighed and slouched further into his seat. If the witch hadn’t promised to take a fourth off his debt for by helping her expose a well-known tattoo reader, he wouldn’t come within ten feet of a place like this. Apparently the money Nami would make by exposing her would be double the debt Zoro owed her.

He grumbled a curse at Nami as he sulked and glared at the floor. He could’ve been drinking, working out, or sleeping. Really anything was better than this. He glared around the room at the semi-circle of hopefuls waiting to get their tattoos read. A weird looking chair sat across from the semi-circle, where an idiot would sit with their tattoo on display for the rest of the room to see as the psychic wanna be would molest them trying to find answers. He’d been to a few others like this with Nami, back when most of his tattoos had been unfinished outlines. Nami would point to a tattoo at random and say it was the one and the “professional” would go on a long and ridiculous rant about what it meant and how they could feel Zoro’s soul mate. Nami would then stand up in mock outrage and point out the reader was talking about the wrong tattoo, if they did this with any random tattoo that meant nothing how easy was it for them to do it with the real deal. Blah blah blah.

“She’s supposed to be the real deal.” Nami mused, tapping a finger on her chin, “Apparently everything she says is correct, but I’m thinking she has a way of knowing it, like researching people or something.”

Zoro nodded, not really listening to Nami’s chatter, he didn’t care, and as long as she stuck to her side of the deal he was fine. A door opened and a woman walked in, stopping in the middle of the semi-circle.

“Hello, my name is Madame Shyarly, I will be reading your tattoos today.” The tall woman said, unsmilingly. Zoro had to hold in a groan when he looked at her. She had chin length black hair that fell into her face, covering one of her heavily lined blue eyes. A deep blue hood sat over most of her hair, leading down to a hoodie like shirt that barely covered her chest. She fit perfectly into the description of a fortune teller who was in touch with “the other side”. Zoro had nothing wrong with that type, it was just too predictable.

“Who would like to be first?” Madame Shyarly asked, scanning the faces of the people sitting in the room. No matter how desperate the room’s occupants were to find out information, no one wanted to go first, it was always the same. Nami nudged him and he sighed, raising his hand slightly. A small smile worked its way onto Shyarly’s face and she nodded, gesturing to the chair.

“Right wrist.” Nami muttered. Zoro nodded slightly and stood, walking to the center.

“His tattoo is already filled in.” A scandalized voice called. Madame Shyarly shook her head, “Those are merely additions, each has a meaning, but are not the one.”

Zoro cocked an eyebrow at her, she was the first to get that right. The tattoos that covered the skin on his arms all had meanings. He lifted his right arm and pointed to the small outline of a bird that had been designed and done by Usopp about six years ago, representing Nami’s freedom from Arlong.

To his surprise the woman shook her head and smiled, nodding her head at Nami, “Her life has nothing to do with your soul mate, not yet.”

He heard Nami’s gasp of surprise, but kept his emotions in control, eyeing the reader with interest. Shyarly smiled and motioned for him to take off his shirt. That was definitely new, she knew where his tattoo was. He pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on the seat of the chair, ignoring the gasps and murmurs his body started. He knew he was well built, he spent hours training his body to become a weapon of sorts, the result was, as Robin called it, an Adonis like body. He turned and sat in the chair with his back to the audience, starting a whole new wave of murmurs. Even he had to admit the large tattoo that covered his whole back and shoulders was impressive. The waves and swirls seemed to accentuate the muscle he had built up over the years, even the fish and flowers that looked like they were floating on the water fit perfectly. He’d asked Robin once, and she’d identified the fish that covered his back, and had pointed out pictures of the real colourful creatures in a book. There was an octopus, a few clown fish, a insanely detailed lion fish, a symphysodon discus whatever that was, a Moorish idol, a French angel fish, a banggai cardinal fish, a mandarin fish and a couple trout, crawfish and salmon. A weird combination of fish to be in the same place.

He’d been told several times the tattoo was a little feminine for such a tough looking guy, but he didn’t care. In his opinion it was cool, and it had several different meanings that he didn’t know yet. But as Luffy had once said, the ocean was a mysterious place with different hidden places that some people never find, it was beautiful, terrifying and strong. So that meant Zoro’s soul mate was probably the same way. And judging from his friend’s tattoos and their soul mates, it would be true. Either way, the tattoo was cool, his favorite part was the giant frilled shark that looked like he was just swimming into the scene, his ugly maw open and showing his teeth. It would probably look awesome when it was coloured in.

He flinched as Madame Shyarly’s freezing hands touched his back, tracing the swirls and waves of his tattoo. He heard her hum in thought and rolled his eyes, they all had a signature noise they made when they touched a tattoo, making it seem like they connected to the “other world”. He glanced up at the reader’s face, she had made sure to stand to the side so everyone could see his back and the mess of sea creatures that lived on it.

“Well your soul mate loves the ocean, there seems to be a goal or dream attached to the sea.” She started, and Zoro snorted, no shit. She tapped her nails on his back as if reprimanding him for his rudeness, “He loves all things beautiful, and loves creating beautiful things. I’m seeing a sea blue, one that matches the water when the sun hits it just right.”

At that Zoro’s head snapped to the side to stare at the reader, this was different from every reading he’d gotten. His soul mate… was a he? Zoro had no problem with it, but he’d never expected a guy, he’d almost expected a woman to match the beautiful fish… horribly stereotypical, but everyone assumed it was probably a woman.

“He?” Nami asked skeptically, “You can tell the gender?”

Madame Shyarly ignored her and continued, “He is loyal and strong, he has a tremendous protective instinct. He can be very cool and calm, but that can change in an instant, much like the ocean. Calm one minute to a raging storm the next, I’d watch that if I were you. He is also… warm and romantic…”

Zoro groaned, romantic? Well shit. He dropped his chin onto the chair and stared at the wall, didn’t romantic mean flowers and chocolates? This guy, if Madame Shyarly was correct, was going to be a little disappointed with Zoro’s wooing skills.

A sharp intake of breath caught his attention and he glanced sharply at Shyarly. She was staring at his back in wonder and then glancing at the door.

“You’ll meet him today.” She said in awe. Nami scoffed and stood up from her seat, “There is no way you can know that. I really doubt Zoro’s soul mate is going to show up today.”

It was then the door opened. Zoro sat up and turned his head to look over his shoulder, there was no way in hell. A young blonde man poked his head in the door and looked around the room. He noticed eyes all trained on him and bit his lip, raising a hand in greeting, “Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt anything, I meant to come and get my tattoo read but couldn’t get off work in time.”

He shuffled into the room and let the door fall closed behind him, clearly uncomfortable about the attention he was getting, “I’ll just stand back here, continue the reading, no need to stop for me… whoa…”

Zoro could see the blonde’s eyes tracing his tattoo, staring in awe at the waves. Slowly his eyes traveled up Zoro’s back, to his eyes. The second their eyes met Zoro felt a flash of heat travel up his back, searing his skin. Gasps echoed around the room as the heat encompassed Zoro, who panted in surprise at the pain.

“You were… you were right?” Nami sounded shocked as she fell back into her seat. Zoro twisted his neck a little more and tore his eyes away from the blonde. He glanced down and blinked in shock at the hues of blue and patches of colour that covered his back. Zoro jumped to his feet and twisted to see the skin, almost breaking his neck to try and catch a glimpse of his back. Shyarly touched his shoulder and pointed to a mirror on the wall. He almost sprinted to it, turning to examine his back in the glass. The sight took his breath away. His back was no longer a golden tan with black lines, it was now all shades of blue, beautifully shaded to create ocean waves and swirls of a current. The fish that had swum on his back since his birth now looked real, like they were actually swimming in a body of water, their vibrant colours and shapes created a picturesque scene on his back. Even the ugly frilled shark looked incredible. He could feel eyes on him as he took in his tattoo, staring in wonder at his back.

“Oh my god.” The sound of an awed voice broke Zoro from the trance he was in, his head snapped in the direction of the blonde that had caused this. While everyone, Zoro included, had been focused on Zoro’s tattoo the blonde had stripped his jacket and shirt off and was staring at his chest, then turning to study his back. A scaled, moss green tail stretched diagonally across the blonde’s chest, travelling up his shoulder and wrapping itself around the blonde’s left upper arm.

“What is your name?” Madame Shyarly asked, and the blonde looked up at her, shock still covering his face, “Sanji.”

“Come here Sanji.” She called, motioning for him to walk forward. Dazedly he did, stumbling as he pushed through the group of seated people to make it to the reader. She turned him so his back faced Zoro, and Zoro stared in awe at the back of his soul mate.

Sanji’s tattoo depicted a large, incredibly detailed, moss green Japanese style dragon fighting with a deep red, furious looking tiger. Both creatures had their mouths open and were snarling at the other, claws were bared and fighting to make a mark. Above the two fighters, coming from underneath Sanji’s hair was the head and neck of a white dragon. Its jaws were open, showering flames over and around the combatants, who didn’t look like they cared. The tattoo was brutal and violent, flames and fighting between two majestic beings that held so much symbolism. This tattoo was a depiction of Zoro, and Zoro could see the connection clearly.

Shyarly spun Sanji around so that he faced Zoro, staring with eyes clouded in surprise, “Sanji, this is Zoro, your soul mate.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Sorry I've left you hanging. I'm so happy people like this, really reeally happy. Unfortunately I'm in my last year of high school and I have to work really hard to keep my average up (I'm in a hard program) to keep my offer of admission to my dream university for my program. On top of my school team and my job, this means I don't have a lot of time. And when I do, I have no motivation to write. So, even this update is sad and measly. I wanted to hold off until I had more, but I felt really bad about not updating this when people reaaally wanted it update (thanks by the way).  
> So here's this.

“I recognized you instantly. All of our lives flashed through my mind in a split second. I felt a pull so strongly towards you that I almost couldn't stop it.”   
― J. Sterling, _In Dreams_

* * *

 

They stared at each other, ignoring the applause and congratulations, ignoring the excited voices talking about how cool it was to watch a tattoo fill in, only focusing on each other. Vaguely Zoro heard Nami talking, something about clothes and leaving. Somebody grabbed his arm, tugging him away and breaking their eye contact. He scowled down at Nami, stumbling after her as she dragged him angrily away. He looked back at Sanji to see him scrambling to grab his shirt and jacket before the doors closed, hiding him from sight.

“What the hell?” Zoro growled, snatching his arm back from Nami, taking the shirt she thrust at him.

“You were supposed to expose her for a fraud!” Nami wailed, “Not prove that she’s the real deal.”

Zoro’s eyes narrowed, “You’re seriously pissed off about that? I just met my fucking soul mate and you’re blaming the fact she knew it on me?”

“No.” Nami huffed, crossing her arms and pouting, “I’m not blaming you, it’s great you found your soul mate, but I was supposed to get rich exposing her. Speaking of your soul mate, where is he?”

Zoro rolled his eyes at her, “Probably still standing in the middle of the room looking like Chopper when we tell him Usopp is lying.”

“Why did you leave him in there?” Nami shrieked, “You just met him! How could you ditch your soul mate like that?”

Zoro stared at her like she had grown horns and a tail, “You do realize you’re the one who dragged me out of there and left him right?”

“I’m afraid he is right, my dear.” A smooth voice commented. Both of them turned to see Sanji standing a few feet away, smoothing his shirt nervously. Nami flushed and bit her lip, “Sorry, I… was focused on something else.”

Zoro could only stare at him, this was his soul mate, the person he was meant to be with. Sanji turned and met his gaze, “So you’re my… soul mate. Never thought it would be a guy”

Zoro nodded, “Guess you’re mine. My, uh, soul mate.”

They stood awkwardly outside of the tattoo reading building, not knowing what to say or do. It was Nami who broke the silence first, turning to Sanji, “Well I’m sure you’d like to get to know Zoro, so how about I leave now and you guys can get on with that?”

“Uh, I- maybe?” Sanji half asked, still looking dazed. Nami rolled her eyes, “Okay sounds great, Zoro text me where you are and I’ll pick you up, I don’t need to be looking for your lost ass for an hour today.”

Zoro spluttered and growled as she walked away, flipping her long orange hair over her shoulder. He flipped her receding back the finger before turning back to Sanji. Who’s eyes were glued to Nami’s ass. Great.

He cleared his throat and almost smirked when Sanji jumped and looked at him guiltily. And then they were back at square one, both staring and not knowing what to say.

“Coffee?” It took Zoro a couple minutes to understand what Sanji was asking him, but he nodded as soon as he got it. That was something people did right? Get to know each other over coffee? Zoro wouldn’t know, he’d never been on an actual date-like outing. No matter how lax people were about hooking up and having fun before they met their soul mate, no one had ever wanted to get serious. How awful would it be to have to leave someone you came to love because you met your soul mate? No one wanted to be that asshole. Unless they didn’t care about the whole soul mate bullshit, but there didn’t seem to be anyone like that.

They walked in awkward silence to a nearby café Sanji had found on his phone. They snuck glances at each other, dropping their eyes when the other turned. Zoro hated this, hated the feeling that was clenching inside his gut. And from the looks of it, Sanji was having just as hard a time with this as he was. The blonde man kept pulling out an expensive looking lighter, flipping the cap up and down with his thumb. He only stopped playing with the stupid thing when they finally got to the café.

“Green tea” Zoro grunted at the barista, shaking his head when the girl asked if he wanted sugar. A sharp pain in his side had him jerking his head towards Sanji, who looked livid. The blonde man glared for a few minutes more before turning to the barista and sending her a sickeningly sweet smile, “I’m sorry my dear flower, he seems to have forgotten his manners. I’ll have a Caramel Chai latte my dear, thank you.”

Zoro just barely supressed the urge to groan at the tone of Sanji’s voice. Before it had been smooth with just a touch of a rasp. Now it was disgustingly sweet, he could almost taste the honey dripping off his words.

He went through the rest of the exchange on auto pilot, handing the now blushing girl a bill for his drink, scowling when Sanji knocked his hand away to pay for both the drinks.

When they finally sat down it finally hit Zoro. Really hit him. This was his soul mate. He was sitting across from the guy that was in every way made to be with him. He was the person Zoro would probably spend the rest of his life with. The guy who looked like he’d rather be anywhere but with Zoro.

“Okay, look, this is kind of… awkward for me.” Sanji said, fiddling with his mug, “I… I’m straight. Not that I can’t admit someone is attractive when I see a good looking guy, it’s just… I feel no attraction to men. Felt no attraction to men.”

Zoro cocked an eyebrow at the correction and Sanji flushed a light pink. It looked... good on him.

“I walked into that room and there you were there and… I have never felt this and it’s freaking me out. Our eyes met and this is so fucking stupidly cliché and overdone in movies but it was like there was a spark and this is getting so fucking ridiculous.”

Zoro chuckled and Sanji glowered at Zoro, “Sure laugh all you want, ignore my freaking out about finding out I’m gay in front of a large group of people.”

“You’re making this a bigger deal than it is. And you aren’t gay, if anything you’re bi.” Zoro said, taking a sip of his green tea. Sanji stared at him, “You aren’t freaking out? That I’m a guy? That I’m… your uh….y’know…”

“No, I never really cared. I figured that my soul mate was going to be whoever they were going to be and it wouldn’t be a big deal, because they were still going to be my soul mate. Not gonna lie, I thought it would be a women, most people who saw my tattoo did, but I don’t care either way. Didn’t care. Whoever it was… whoever you were, was perfect for me.”

Zoro sighed, he’d said it a million times, but saying it to his soul mate was all kinds of awkward. Sanji stared at him for a minute before dropping his gaze to whatever the hell his drink was, “that was… kind of deep. So you never really thought about your sou… me? What I might have turned out to be?”

Zoro shook his head, “I gave it some thought, but I didn’t care much. Honestly I had better things to do than moon over someone I might never have met.”

Sanji bit his lip and stared into his coffee. Zoro sighed and wiped a hand over his face, Sanji was probably the kind of person who had mooned over someone he might have never met. Great. He could almost hear Nami sighing in exasperation, ‘great first impression there buddy, real smooth.’

“What did you think I was going to be like?” Zoro asked. Sanji bit his lips, “A woman… a strong Japanese woman who had a violent streak.” He glanced up a Zoro’s face, “It looks like I got most of it right.”

Zoro snorted, “If you’re silently commenting on the hair you can shove it, I’ve heard everything there is to hear curly”

The blonde bristled, “Curly?”

\-----

Whenever Nami got a call from the police station, she always expected to walk in and find Luffy. So of course she was shocked to walk in and find Zoro and Sanji sitting side by side on a bench, glaring away from each other. Both were in a state of disarray, bruises, blood and clothes torn.

“What the hell happened?” She asked, glaring at both of them, “I get a call from the police saying I need to come in and pick someone up, and it’s you and your soul mate? What the hell did you guys do?”

“Got into a fight.” Zoro said sullenly. Nami sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling like a parent who had just got called to the school to talk about their delinquent child.

“Why would you fight your soul mate?”

“He started it!” Both exclaimed at the same time, before turning and glowering at each other. Nami sighed again, this was a match made in hell.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is late. Sorry.

“I am a canvas of my experiences, my story is etched in lines and shading, and you can read it on my arms, my legs, my shoulders, and my stomach.”   
― Kat Von D

* * *

 

“We’re going to Robin and Franky’s” Nami snapped when Zoro slid into the car. Sanji stood hesitantly outside, flinching when Nami turned her gaze onto him, “Well?” “Well what my dear?” Sanji asked hesitantly.

“Get in if you’re coming with us.” Nami sighed, tapping her foot impatiently on the gas pedal, revving the engine. Sanji bit his lip, “Unfortunately I’m not feeling well at the moment, I’ll have to decline your, uh, gracious invitation.”

He gave her a tight smiling and bowed slightly, completely ignoring Zoro. They watched him walk away, well Zoro did, Nami was still glaring at Zoro. The green haired man sighed, “What?”

“Not only did you ruin my chance at getting a ridiculous amount of money, but I had to go to the police station for the fifth time this week, I think I can be a little mad.” Nami snapped. The car was filled with tense silence after that. The silence followed them as they pulled into Robin and Franky’s large driveway

“How did the exposing go?” Robin asked from her spot on the sofa as Nami opened the door. Nami sighed, “No go, Zoro just proved she was the real deal.”

Robin’s eyes flicked to Zoro in confusion, “And how did he do that?”

Nami sighed and gestured to Zoro’s back, “He found his soul mate.”

Robin’s eyes widened and she turned to Zoro with a wide smile. Zoro sighed, “She made some accurate predictions, and said I’d meet him today and I did.”

“How very interesting, is he here? I’d like to meet the man behind your tattoo.” Robin smiled and peered at the entryway. Nami sighed and shook her head, “They got in a fight and he ran off.”

“A fight?” Robin’s eyebrows flew up, “As in-“

“Yes a physical, beating each other up fight.” Zoro grumbled, “Nami was pissed when she picked us up from the station and he looked kind of terrified.”

“Nami is a formidable force when provoked.” Robin agreed, her eyes glinting now. He would probably hate whatever she was thinking. Robin turned to say something to Nami but was interrupted by Luffy flying at them, latching on to Zoro and crawling up onto his shoulders, “ZORO! You’re here! Help me beat up Usopp.”

Zoro staggered under the sudden addition to his body, “Jesus Luffy, warn a guy!”

“But you always catch me Zoro.” Luffy leaned forward so he was bent over Zoro’s head and his face was inches from Zoro’s, “You’re too strong to drop me.”

Zoro snorted, dipping his head so Luffy fell off his shoulders and onto the floor, “Why are you beating up Usopp?”

Luffy’s grin slid off his face and he rolled slightly on the floor, “He won’t give me food! I’m so hungry and he’s being meeeaannn.”

Nami sighed, dropping onto the sofa next to Robin, “Vivi should be here soon, she’s bringing Kaya. And Vivi is wondering what’s for dinner, she says she can’t take another one Luffy’s special dishes or Usopp’s crazy hot meals. ”

“My food is wonderful thank you very much!” Usopp yelled from the kitchen, “But the great Usopp is not using his culinary skill today, I am merely supervising Franky’s work.”

Nami snorted, “Right. Because adding a ridiculous amount of tabasco sauce is skill. Oh and Zoro, prepare to take your shirt off and answer questions, Vivi says she can’t wait to see it.”

“I’m not taking my shirt off so everyone can ogle the damn thing.” Zoro grumbled. Nami smirked at him sweetly, “Well Vivi wants to see the ‘damn thing’ so she will see it.”

Zoro scowled at her, rubbing at where the blue started at the base of his neck.

“Does your back itch? I found that my skin crawled after my tattoo filled in.” Robin asked, “Like bugs on my skin. It goes away after a day or two, I have a cream I can give you to ease it in the meantime.”

Zoro’s answer was blocked out by Luffy’s shout of glee, “Your tattoo!?”

He lunged for Zoro, pushing him into the living room. At the sound of Luffy’s yell, the rest of the people in the house were poking their heads into the open concept first floor. Chopper let out a shriek of glee and followed Luffy’s example, lunging at Zoro. Between the two of them, they managed to tackle Zoro to the ground. Zoro silently thanked Robin for choosing the open concept design as he struggled to get the idiots off of him. If it hadn’t been spacious, with all the thrashing going on they would have hit something and it probably would have been priceless and ancient.

Usopp cheered from the door as Chopper wrestled with Zoro’s legs and Luffy clung to Zoro’s torso. Zoro shot him a glare, “If you help me I won’t tell Kaya about the time you spent a day at summer camp before you had to be picked up because you were crying so much.”

Usopp shook his head in glee, “She already knows, and I’d rather see you struggle.”

Zoro shot a pleading look at Nami, “I can’t pay you back if I have to buy a new shirt, this is the last of my good ones.”

Nami quirked a perfectly plucked brow, “I’m not feeling very helpful today.”

Zoro groaned and gave a violent shake, trying to knock his youngest friends off his back, “I’ll take it off dammit, just let me get up!”

“Should I ask why my brother is trying to rip Zoro’s shirt off?” Ace asked, stepping through the front door, followed by Marco, Viv and Kaya. “Not complaining about seeing a shirtless Zoro, but don’t we have a shirts are mandatory at group dinner rule?”

Despite Zoro’s struggling and protests, Luffy finally ripped his shirt, exposing his back to the room. Zoro groaned and gave up, lying face down on Robin’s carpet. He heard the gasps and sounds of wonder as Luffy eagerly pulled the remaining scraps covering the tattoo off his body.

“Shit man, that’s awesome!” Ace yelled, diving down onto the floor with the younger two to get a closer look at Zoro’s back.

“Wow bro! You’ve really got the ocean on your back, that’s super!” Franky called from the kitchen counter. Zoro sighed and pulled the shreds of his ruined shirt off his body, staying still so the three idiots could poke at the fish on his back. If they got their fill now he would be left alone later.

“That’s incredible!” Brooke yelled from the bar, raising his beer. Zoro sighed and pushed up, dislodging the youngest members of their group and Ace. He glared at the scraps of fabric in his hand, ignoring Robin, Vivi and Kaya as they walked around him to trace his tattoo.

“What’s your soulmate’s tattoo?” Luffy asked, looking at Zoro excitedly, “Can we go find them? Can we? I want to see their tattoo!”

“Maybe he’ll let you see it after our celebratory dinner.” Nami said from her seat, snapping a picture with her phone. Zoro glared half-heartedly at her. She shrugged and tapped away at something on her phone.

“But I want to see it now.” Luffy whined, “It represents you right? It must be sooo cool.”

“It must be!” Chopper agreed, clapping his hands, “Who is it? When can we meet him, when is the dinner?”

“The dinner!” Luffy yelled excitedly, clapping his hands, “Can we go tonight! I know this great place we can go to, it has the best food ever!”

“You said that about McDonalds last week, I’m not sure I trust your judgement.” Marco snorted. Nami pushed off from the couch and walked to greet her girlfriend, “And we’re having dinner here tonight. Zoro can text or call Sanji and ask him when he’s free so we can set up the dinner.”

Zoro groaned, he did not want to have the dinner so soon. The dinner was a big welcoming tradition in their group. It had started years ago when Kaya and Usopp had met. Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp had been friends for years, and when Usopp and Kaya had met during a game of baseball gone wrong (Kaya’s butler was not happy she’d almost been hit by a bat that came flying through her bedroom window. How Luffy been able to throw it that far was a mystery), Luffy had declare they needed to celebrate it. He had dragged everyone out of the yard to buy ice cream to bring back to Kaya. When Nami had met Vivi, it happened again, but with doughnuts and coffee from a shop on the road.

Since they had gotten older, their dinners had become slightly more mature, in the sense that they were actual dinners and they were usually a huge formal dinner deal to welcome the poor soul into their insane crew. They had had make up dinners for those that hadn’t gotten the proper celebratory dinner, so they’d had about four, not including the almost-anniversary dinner for Zoro’s uncles. The last dinner they’d had was for Ace and Marco, about two years ago. Luffy loved the dinners and insisted that everyone got dressed up, stupidly excited about adding new members to their group. Then again, that was Luffy, he loved making friends, even if they didn’t want to be at first. Usually the group got reservations at some nice place in town, feeding Luffy beforehand so they didn’t get kicked out right away. The reservations were always for a formal restaurant that played nice music and served rich and snobby clientele that wore multi piece suits and stupidly expensive dresses. Which was why Zoro usually drowned himself in alcohol before and during the dinner. He hated wearing a suit, and sitting surrounded by assholes who judged you by your bank account.

“Zoro? Are you even listening to me? Call Sanji and ask him when he’s free.” Nami snapped, tapping a foot as she stood impatiently by the door. Zoro automatically reached for his phone, but froze and cursed hallway through the motion.

“What? Did you lose your phone? Or did you not get his number?” Nami growled, stalking forward, “You better not tell me that on top of meeting your soulmate, getting into a fistfight with him, you left with no way of contacting him. You didn’t right?”

Zoro backed away, “Uh, maybe?”

Ace burst into laughter, holding onto Marco so he wouldn’t fall, “You got into a fistfight with your soulmate? Never change man, never change.”

Nami shot a glare at Ace before turning back to Zoro, “How are you going to get into contact with him? How are you going to find your soul mate again? This city is huge!”

Zoro shrugged, “Maybe it’s better? He didn’t seem too thrilled that I was a guy, kinda seemed freaked about it actually, he did say he, uh, felt attracted to me, but he looked embarrassed when he said it. He was more interested in the barista than me. And we barely lasted twenty minutes before we were insulting and hitting each other.”

“He’s your soulmate!” Vivi gasped, “You guys are meant to be, your gender doesn’t matter.”

“Some soul mates are platonic, like Shanks and Makino, they’re friends and it’s fine.” Zoro shrugged, “And maybe I’ll see him somewhere, talk, I dunno, I’ve done fine without a soul mate, I’ll live.”

“Who threw the first punch?” Ace was apparently stuck on the fact they had gotten into a fight. Nami scowled at him and smacked his arm, “We are not going to go into a play by play of their fight, this is all ridiculous enough as it is.”

“Okay bros, dinner is almost ready, leave the dude alone and come get some grub.” Franky called. There was a rush as everyone tried to beat Luffy to the kitchen, it was that or starve. Zoro sighed and looked down at his bare torso. There was a rule about shirts and the weekly group dinners, though that rule was mostly for him and Ace, the two who usually forwent a shirt. He turned and jogged up the stairs to the upstairs guest room, which held a collection of clothes for all of them in the closet, for when the need arose. And not surprisingly the need arose quite often, especially with Luffy around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, sorry this is so late. I really want to update more frequently and I thought I would be able to...  
> I've just had a couple of really bad weeks, I'm not in school anymore and I've kind of realized most of the people I considers friends only talked to me because we saw each other 5 days a week so I've been dealing with that realization.  
> I've also been... I don't know if I can call it depression because I do have happy periods, but I've been feeling shitty for years. These past couple of weeks I've barely gotten out of bed and I feel worthless and purposeless, so that has killed my drive to write. I don't know when the next update is coming, but I have been feeling a little better so maybe soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry, I've been tired and lazy and really unmotivated and dealing with my issues. But I've gotten a lot of messages to post more, so here's this, I'm sick of looking at it and I think it's as done as it's gonna get. In all honesty, part of my issue with writing this is I don't actually have much of a plot figured out. This started off as a drabble-y thing and i posted it on tumblr in a fit of frustration because i just couldn't deal with it, and because of all the positive feedback, I've felt inspired to write more. But I don't know where it's going... So bear with me! And thank you!
> 
> Also, I've started adding quotes about tattoos and soulmates to the top of chapters :) (I went back and did 1-3 too)

“What’s the difference?” I asked him. “Between the love of your life, and your soulmate?”  
“One is a choice, and one is not.”  
― Tarryn Fisher, _Mud Vein_

* * *

 

Sanji sighed as he tossed his jacket in the direction of the coat rack his father kept in his living room. He fell onto the couch, flinging an arm over his eyes, not moving even when his father limped into the room.

“What the hell are you doing eggplant? Do you not have your own apartment to mope around in?”

“I’m contemplating whether this soulmate thing is complete bullshit or not.” Sanji sighed, his fingers itching to pull out his lighter.

“The great romantic, Sanji Black, doubts the idea of soulmates? What has the world come to?” Zeff snorted, settling down into a chair with a groan. “I’m guessing you’ve met them and they aren’t up to your standards. Are they not a model of the ridiculous American beauty standard? Or your imagined ‘gorgeous and exotic’ Japanese woman?”

Sanji sighed, “He’s definitely not what I expected.”

“I knew it.” Zeff snorted. Sanji pulled the arm off of his face to glare at his father, “Excuse me?”

“Eggplant, you’re too much of an idiot around women to make it work, even with your female friends you swear you love like sisters.” Zeff said, putting a hand up to stop Sanji from interrupting him, “I’m serious moron, this is the best thing for you, obviously the universe or whatever thinks so too. Even before you had met your soulmate you had put them on a goddamn pedestal that was unreachable, and you would have horribly offended them within seconds if they hadn’t matched your imagination, and it would have been worse if they had matched your imagination.”

“Horribly offended?” Sanji gaped, “I- I would never! How could you say I would offend a beautiful woman who I would be ever so lucky to be soul mates with?”

“’Gorgeous and exotic’ were the words you used describe you mental image of your soulmate. Exotic as if she weren’t a human but a product being sold. Every other description of your imaginary female soul mate was an unobtainable person. You were setting yourself up for disappointment and it probably would have crushed her. You’re an open book kid, your emotions show easily on your face, and seeing a girl that didn’t fit in the ridiculously narrow confines of your ideals would disappoint you. And because of you being so shallow, the poor girl would be crushed that she wasn’t good enough for her soulmate. You can be extremely sexist and shallow when you talk about women.” Zeff sighed and learned back, “I thought I raised you to have an open mind about this shit, but somehow you picked up this sexist mind set. I blame western society; it makes people hate what doesn’t fit into their ridiculous values.”

“But I don’t hate women!” Sanji protested, “And I’m not shallow!”

Zeff snorted, “I know you don’t hate women, but you’ve let yourself buy into the idea women can’t do the things men can do. You’re a sexist, not a misogynist, you don’t hate women, but you support the oppression, even if it isn’t conscious. Your mother would’ve….”

Zeff cut himself off and sighed, as he usually did when he spoke of Sanji’s mother, “Look, you can be ridiculous, and it’s for the best your soulmate is a man. You don’t even have to be romantic, there is such a thing as platonic soulmates. Speaking of which, let’s see that tattoo.”

Sanji sighed, grumbling as he heaved himself off the couch, turning and pulling his shirt off. He could feel Zeff’s eye travelling over the tattoo, and he shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. Zeff snorted, pushing himself out of his armchair, “I really don’t know how you deluded yourself into thinking it was a woman. Really eggplant, I have no idea.”

“This could have fit a woman! A strong woman! Someone with fighting spirit!” Sanji argued. Zeff snorted, “It could have been yes, I know I taught you to look past the stereotypical boy and girl expectations, but think Sanji. Actually think and don’t delude yourself, would a strong woman with a fighting spirit want to put up with you in a romantic soul mate relationship? Someone who puts women on an unachievable pedestal and won’t let them do anything themselves? This is the most logical match for a romantic relationship, you, and a guy who won’t put up with your shit. The strong woman version of your soul mate you imagined would have left you when you deemed her too delicate to do anything more than sit at a table and be fawned over because of her gender. It never would have worked out, soul mate or not, but a man? A man is the one person you can be yourself around, and will hopefully put up with your bullshit; you won’t feel the need to hide yourself to seem like a saintly knight, you’ll be Sanji.”

Sanji blinked, well shit, when it was put like that, it was probably the best logic behind his pairing. If there was any logic behind the pairings at all. Most of them just worked, there was no logic. Your soul mate was the one you were going to spend your entire life with, the pairings always made sense, even in the platonic relationships. They were the closest friendships one could make, and they always worked out. Except for Sanji’s of course, how the actual fuck had that even happened. Never mind, that was it, there was no logic, the universe or whatever decided soul mates decided to fuck with Sanji because it hated him. The one thing he had always wanted was a romantic soulmate, a relationship like his father and mother had had. But the universe gave him a… possibly platonic relationship.

“But… he’s a guy…. A shitty antagonistic male, with green hair and surly attitude, I just… I can’t wrap my mind around it. And did I mention he was male, a person with a dick?” Sanji moaned, throwing his arm in the air. Zeff snorted, “For someone who claims they don’t like men you seem to be pretty fixated on this guy’s dick.”

Sanji sat up spluttering indignantly as he glared at his father. Zeff snorted and stood from his chair, “When you’re done having your stupid crisis head down to the kitchen, we need a waiter.”

Sanji growled as the old man limped out of the room and down the stairs to the restaurant. Shitty old man and his shitty jokes. He threw himself back down onto the sofa, staring at the yellowed ceiling. How could his soul mate, the one he had been told was the one for him, the one he would spend forever with, be a guy?! One he couldn’t get along with at that, platonic or no, it wasn’t a perfect match. Sanji had the worst luck dammit. Whatever he had done in a past life must have been pretty fucking awful to have this happen to him.

Sanji wandered down the hall to his old room and threw on his extra chefs whites he kept here. Shitty old man would have to kick someone else out of the kitchen to be a goddamn waiter. He walked down the stairs and into the chaotic kitchen, slipping past the other chefs and their workstations until he got to his. Taking a deep breath, he rolled up his sleeves and let the stress and shock of the day leave him. Cooking while distracted or emotional led to mistakes and bad food, and Sanji prided himself with being able to clear his mind of anything other than the food he was cooking. He quickly got into the rhythm of the kitchen, letting the swearing and shouted insults soothe him into normalcy.

His hands flew as he gathered the utensils he would need. The special of the night was his own creation, a simple yet delicious dish of soba noodles and pan seared tofu he had thrown together for a rush order when he was 14 for a vegan customer. The customer had sung his praises about the dish, and it had become a regular menu item. He had made it so the tofu didn’t have the slight plastic taste and even those who loved meat ordered the dish.

He grabbed the tofu and started preparing it, rinsing it and patting it dry before reaching for his knife to cut it into cubes.

"Oi, Sanji, what's on your arm?" One of the chefs asked as he passed, "did you get hit by a marker or something?"

Sanji tensed, his head slowly turning to his exposed right arm. Shit. The green tail of the dragon that wrapped around his bicep and ended just above his elbow was perfectly visible to the kitchen.  
He shook his arm so his sleeve slipped down from where he had folded it up, "it's nothing, just some colouring from this morning when I was icing cakes."  
Another one of the chefs snorted, "So that's where you were this morning? At the new bakery, icing cakes? Gonna leave us soon? Spare the customers of this fine establishment your shitty cooking?"

"I was helping a friend." Sanji growled back, setting his knife down as he glared around the kitchen, "if you fuck ups don't shut the hell up about the bakery I'll kick your asses, you hear?"

“You really can’t resist a woman can you?” One of the newer chefs snorted, grabbing the bottle of soy sauce off Sanji’s worktable. Sanji scowled at him and flipped him off, “Conis is an old friend, who has a soul mates, and she just needed an extra hand. Fuck off.”

“When you meet your soul mate you’re going to be insufferable.” A chef called. Sanji tensed and stopped cutting the tofu. If the found out about his soul mate…

“Isn’t that arm with the green smudge part of his tattoo?” One of the older chefs called, and everyone looked up from what they were doing to stare at Sanji’s arm.

 _Fuck me…_ Sanji shifted his arm so the sleeve dropped down to his elbow, but it was too late. Carne, whose station was next to Sanji’s, reached over and jerked Sanji’s sleeve up, exposing the green tail or the dragon.

“The tattoo’s coloured!” He shouted, and meals were abandoned in favour of gawking at the green tail winding around Sanji’s upper arm.

“Why weren’t you spouting off about her?”

“Was she not pretty enough?”

“That’s it! She’s ugly and Sanji’s ashamed!”

What if it’s a man?”

“All of you, shut the hell up!” Sanji roared, jerking his arm from the grasp of many hands, “You all have no right to call any women ugly, and my soul mate is none of your fucking business, go back to your stations before you fucking burn something you halfwits.”

They all stared at him for a second before turning away. Someone snorted as they walked away, “It’s totally a man, poor bastard’s gonna have his hands full with this asshole.”

“Go fuck yourself, second rate cook.” Sanji snarled, flipping the man off, before turning back to his tofu. He gripped his knife tightly before relaxing his grip and reaching for the tofu.

This fucking sucked.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in case you couldn't tell, I'm a feminist. (And a vegan, but that's just a small bit in there, and I really want to try the recipe Sanji's making....) Anyway, I wrote Zeff's bit on my phone, my computer and in a notebook and then mashed them together, so it might seem a little disjointed? I tried to make it flow but some of it might be a little weird. Just let me know if there's issues with it, somethings might be repeated or contradicted, but I've read it over so many times I can't tell anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaacccck. After almost a year of not updating. I am so sorry, so soo sorry. But I had just started my first year of uni, and I had a shit time with mental illness. BUT, I am getting help and whatnot.  
> Trying to write while I was constantly stressed was not fun and I always had writers bock, but, here is a new chapter for all you very patient lovelies <3

 

“Tattoos, after all, are a passionate, usually doomed assertion of mastery of your own destiny, or at least a defiant embrace of one that you cannot control.”  
― Mark Simpson, Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Charming Man by an Alarming Fan

* * *

 

 

Zoro groaned and rolled over, growling at the angry buzz of his phone. It had been a couple of days since he had met Sanji, and every morning he had woken up to at least one call or text about the guy. Most of them were from Luffy, urging him to go out and find Sanji so they could have their dinner. However, every morning there was at least one from someone who had just heard the news, either congratulating him or complaining about how he hadn't told them himself.

Honestly, he didn't give a shit. Yes, it was cool to meet his soul mate, kind of weird and surreal, but his life was no different. Zoro would still get up every morning and he would still work, still hang out with his crew. There might be an addition, but his life was not changing.

He sighed and reached across his bed, blindly searching for his phone. Whoever had the courage to call him before 7 am was either related to him or a friend of his. Zoro squinted at the caller ID and groaned. If he let it go to voicemail, she would just call again and she would be even more furious. Sighing, Zoro held the phone a foot away from his face and pressed accept.

"WHY DID I HAVE TO HEAR FROM SHANKS THAT YOU FOUND YOUR SOULMATE?!" Perona shrieked. Even with the distance of the phone from his ear Zoro still flinched, "I... Was waiting to tell you in person?"

"That is such bullshit Zoro." Perona snapped. Zoro could hear her tapping her nails against a hard surface in annoyance.

"You promised you would tell me as soon as it happened!" She whined. Zoro snorted, “No, I didn’t”

However, Perona went on as if he hadn’t spoken, "We’re cousins! Close enough to be brother and sister! We were gonna talk about them and I was supposed to meet them! That is so not cute! You have to bring them to meet me! How about today? I'm cleaning the bar this morning and Mihawk and Shanks should be coming in around lunch to help out!"

"Look" Zoro groaned, "I can't get in contact with him, I don't have his number or whatever. I can come and talk to you after I get off tomorrow."

There was a pause and then Perona started giggling. Zoro sighed and mentally went over what he had said. "For fucks sake Perona, you aren't twelve, you know I meant get off of work, don't be ridiculous."

"I've been spending too much time with Shanks." Perona giggled, "I’m not as embarrassed by him anymore, but maybe that’s because I’m used to him now. But I can’t wait till tomorrow! I want to see your tattoo today! It’s your day off right? Come in for lunch.”

"I have plans for today.” Zoro moaned, dropping his head back onto the pillow. He heard her snort on the other side of the line, “Yeah, sleep, eat, workout, and repeat? You can do that later, come in for lunch, I’ll give you two free beers.”

“Fine, I'm going to go now, like you said it's my day off and I want to use it, I'll see you later."

“Bye loser."

Zoro threw his phone to the end of his bed and snuggled deeper into his covers. It was days he was able to sleep in that he was glad he'd let Robin and Franky take care of furnishing his room in the house he shared with Nami and Vivi. If it had been up to him, he’d have a dresser and a mattress on the floor. Everything was practical (mostly, that fake fire torch lamp that wasn't so fake had almost caused some accidents) and didn’t take up room.

The only reason he hadn't paid an arm and a leg was because Franky had designed and constructed it all out of scraps from his commissions for original furniture. Robin made sure they were actually useful and helpful (how the hell did the lamp get past her?) and wouldn’t accidentally kill him. The bed was his favourite part, a frame that had katanas carved into the metal, with a ridiculously comfortable mattress Robin and Chopper had gotten him for a birthday.

He had always been one of those people that insisted he could sleep wherever, and didn't need a pricey mattress. And he could sleep anywhere, it just hurt his back if he slept on a shitty surface too often. And so Chopper and Robin had gotten him a special mattress, and he was addicted to it.

He rolled over and blinked at the clock, willing the numbers to slow down. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Perona, he liked his cousin when she wasn't being morbid, creepy or screeching at him, but his bed was so damn comfortable. He could probably spend all day in it.

There was a loud crash from down the hall.

"GOD DAMNIT, ZORO COME FEED YOUR DAMN CATS"

Never mind.

He sighed and rolled out of bed, almost tripping over his Khao Manee cat, Wado. She blinked her green and blue eyes up at him before walking over to the door and sitting in front of it, flicking her tail.

As Zoro grabbed a hoodie to pull on, Wado was joined at the door by his black Sphynx cat, Yubashiri. Which meant the cat bothering Nami was Kitetsu. Great. Hopefully she wasn’t bleeding, he’d be forced to clean the kitchen again.

He stumbled down the hall and into the kitchen, where the rough looking one-eared black Persian was grooming his paw on the counter. Nami was muttering to herself as she swept a broken plate into a dustpan. She glared at him as he walked by her to the fridge.

"I swear, if he knocks over one more plate I'm kicking him out." She hissed.

"You wouldn't." Zoro snorted, "He’s an asshole, but you secretly like him. I saw you feeding him dinner scraps last week.”

"It’s called a bribe. I hate him, and he hates me. It's war." She scowled. Zoro snorted, grabbing the can of wet food from the fridge. Instantly, three small bodies were winding themselves around his legs. He trudged over to the three bowls on the floor next to the dining table, being careful not to kick one of the cats. It had happened before, and he’d felt guilty for a week.

As soon as he started measuring out the food, the cats abandoned his feet and rushed for their bowls. Nami was still glaring at Kitetsu, "I don't know why you keep him."

"He needed a home; I was the only one he didn't bite when I picked him up." Zoro yawned, grabbing a mug from the cupboard, “You didn’t complain when I brought him and Yubashiri home, you went out and bought them beds and toys so Wado didn’t have to share.”

"Wado is different, she’s a good cat. And I like the freak more than I like him, at least the freak doesn't growl at me." Nami muttered.

Zoro sighed, "Don’t call him a freak, you said it yourself, Yubashiri is an expensive breed. People pay 2 thousand for cats like him. Besides that's what all cats look like without hair, and I didn't see you complaining when he curled up in your lap during the movie last night."

He grabbed a banana and a muffin from the counter and walked over to the breakfast bar, careful to avoid the cat toys that always seemed to end up under the stools.

"He's still freaky looking." Nami sniffed, but smiled as Vivi walked into the kitchen.

"What was all the yelling about?" Vivi asked, walking into Nami's arms, "did Kitetsu attack you again?"

"He knocked over a plate." Nami sighed, "I hate him."

"It's because you're a dog person, cats and dog people just don't get along." Vivi said, reaching for the tea Nami held out to her. Nami nodded, “Maybe if we get a dog the cat won’t be so evil, he’ll be to busy being scared. We could get a rottweiler.”

Zoro snorted, “Kitetsu would eat the dog, sorry but I guess you’ll just have to live in fear.”

Nami rolled her eyes, turning to watch Vivi rummage through the fridge before turning back to Zoro.

"What if Sanji's a dog person?" Nami asked, glancing at Zoro and sipping her coffee innocently. Zoro glared and tossed the peel of his banana at her. She squeaked and threw it back at him.

"Seriously though," Vivi asked, sitting next to him at the bar, "what if he doesn't like cats or is allergic?"

"Then he wouldn't be my perfect match right? Platonic or otherwise." Zoro muttered into his coffee, "even if he doesn't like cats or whatever, I'm not getting rid of them. Not even Kitetsu."

"Seriously? Even if he attacks your soulmate you wouldn't get rid of that demon spawn?" Nami sighed, leaning on the counter across from them.

"He's not that bad, he hasn't attacked me yet, so I count that as a plus." Vivi said, stealing a bit of Zoro's muffin, ignoring his half-hearted swipe at her.

"That's because everyone loves you." Nami grinned at her. Vivi’s smile turned sickeningly sweet as she bumped her shoulder against Nami’s and leaned in so their foreheads were pressed together.

"Right, I'm leaving before I get a cavity." Zoro sighed, picking up his mug and walking down the hall.

"You love us!" Nami yelled after him.

"Nope! I'm only here because I have nowhere else to go!" He called back.

He got back into bed and set an alarm for ten thirty. He had nothing to do, so why not sleep. Three small thumps alerted him to the presence of his cats on the bed before they cuddled up next to him.

\-------

Zoro banged his fist against the bar door, peering in through the glass. For some reason it had taken him way less time to get here than it usually did. They must have added a shortcut or something, maybe a new road?

“We’re not open!” A voice called through the glass.

“So I can go back home and sleep?” Zoro called back.

“No!” There were rapid footsteps before the door was flung open, and he was pulled into the dim interior of the bar. Perona dragged him inside, threw him at a seat at the bar, and raced back behind the bar.

"So? What're they like?" She asked excitedly. He sighed and slid onto a stool and pointed at a beer. She pouted but grabbed the bottle and slide it into his hand while looking at him expectantly.

"He's an asshole." Zoro said, popping the cap off his bottle.

"He’s an asshole? That's it? That's everything? What else happened? Luffy barely told Shanks anything!"

"What about me?" Shanks asked, walking into the room, looking up from his phone. He stopped when he saw Zoro and turned back to yell into the office, "Zoro's here."

“Zoro!” Shanks yelled and grinned as he turned around, waving his prosthetic arm in the air. He walked over to the bar and flung himself down next to Zoro, "so?"

Zoro groaned, "might as well wait, I'm not repeating myself a thousand times so everyone can hear the stupid story."

"Who says I even want to hear about this." A low voice asked. Zoro raised his beer as his uncle walked out from the office, his sharp golden eyes glaring at the three of them.

"Because he's our nephew and we love him." Shanks snorted motioning for Mihawk to hurry. The black haired man glared at him and continued at his steady pace. Perona was practically vibrating across from Zoro at the bar, evidently wanting to see his tattoo and hear about her grumpy cousin’s soulmate. For all her morbid creepiness, she loved the idea of soulmates and all the true love bullshit.

"Dad can hear from there, now tell!" Perona demanded.

"You know how Nami takes me to those tattoo things? I went to one, and he showed up during my reading, my tattoo coloured and then we fought. Happy?"

"So when's the second date?" Shanks asked. Zoro rolled his eyes and shook his head, "For one, I don't have anyway of contacting him, and two we were around each other for like an hour and I haven’t seen him since, how the hell is that a date?"

“Luffy did say you’d gotten into a fight.” Shanks laughed, “You guys are gonna have wild s-“

“Shanks” Zoro groaned, cutting him off. Perona sighed and dropped into a stool next to Zoro, “I can’t believe I have to call you my father.”

“I can’t believe I have to call all of you my family.” Zoro muttered, grunting when Perona elbowed him. He rolled his eyes at her when she stuck her tongue out at him, “Yes we fought, within an hour of knowing each other. That’s definitely not a date.”

"Zoro, the men of your family consider fighting foreplay." Shanks smirked, eyes flicking to his unamused looking husband.

Both Zoro and Perona grimaced, Zoro choking on his beer, "I did not need to know that."

"They aren't your dads, be grateful for that." Perona muttered, walking behind the counter again and pouring herself a very generous shot. She tossed it back before looking mournfully at the bottle, "I'll need the whole thing to forget that."

"Oh be quiet, we're two adult men in a happy and healthy relationship and you're an adult, you know we have sex." Shanks snorted, jumping over the counter and reaching past Perona for a glass.

"Doesn't mean I want to hear about it." Perona whined, dropping her head onto the bar.

"Stop torturing our daughter and nephew, and out of three of you, two of you shouldn't be drinking, seeing as you're both working tonight."

"But we have a date tonight." Shanks complained, "I don't want to work."

"I wasn't talking to you." Mihawk rolled his eyes, nodding his head at Zoro, who sighed, "Will I get payed this time?”

“Possibly.”

“Possibly won’t cut it.” Zoro snarked, draining his beer and motioning for the promised second. Shanks shot a challenging look at his husband before grabbing it off the shelf and holding it just out of Zoro’s reach.

“You’ll get this, and payment for working tonight, when we see that tattoo.” Shank’s shit eating grin grew as Zoro dropped his head on the wooden bar in defeat.

“Yes! Let’s see let’s see!” Perona cheered, leaning all her weight on the bar excitedly.

Zoro sighed and stood up, turning his back to his odd family. He pulled his shirt off and stared boredly at the doors to the bar as they awed and oohed over it. Well, Shanks and Perona did.

“It’s realistic, not stupid or frilly.” Mihawk said, the barest hint of approval in his voice.

“Well, my soulmate is stupid and frilly so there’s no real representation there I guess.” Zoro snorted, flinching slightly when one of Perona’s stupidly long nails dragged over his skin.

“Of course, I’ll have to meet this soulmate of yours to judge that for myself.” Mihawk muttered, turning to walk back into the office.

“This would look so much better if there was blood near the shark-y thing.” Perona sighed wistfully. Zoro groaned and shrugged her fingers off his back, ignoring the small sting from her nails, “Perona, what the actual fuck is wrong with you.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and pouted as she flounced off into the employee room. Shanks chuckled, “She’s definitely her father’s daughter, such a flair for the dramatic. And a little blood thirsty, not that that’s all that bad, I don’t mind it when your uncle gets a little blood-”

“Nope!” Zoro clapped his hands over his ears and glared at his uncle, “I swear to god, if you continue that sentence I am going to vomit and you’ll be the one cleaning that up.”

Shanks pouted at him, and Zoro could tell Mihawk wasn't the only one who passed down dramatics to their daughter. And god what a horrible thought that was, Perona was a mixture of his two uncles, oh god….

As if sensing his thoughts Shank’s pout turned into an evil smirk, “You know, I think a family dinner might be in order, now that there’s a new addition to the family….”

Oh, so Shank’s was going down another path. A worse path.

“He already hates me, if he ever meets you lot he’ll run for the hills screaming.” Zoro muttered, pulling his shirt back on and looking around the empty bar, “So, as much as I hate bar work, it’s better than this conversation. What needs to be done?”

Shanks snorted and jerked his thumb over his shoulder, “We just got a delivery of supplies, you know where it goes.”

“It’s like you knew I was going to be here.” Zoro scowled as he walked towards the hall that lead to the back loading area.

“We’re just that good” Shanks cackled. Zoro shook his head, not fighting the small smile that was stretching his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought maybe cats would be a fun way to get Zoro's swords in there. We'll see how that goes. I own a sphynx cat named Smeagol (I'm a dork I know) so I couldn't resist throwing a wrinkle baby in.
> 
> So many people were messaging me about how I made Shanks and Makino platonic soul mates, but you see I had this planned, and I needed an example of platonic soul mates.
> 
> Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon!  
> Until then :)

**Author's Note:**

> I do not give permission for this or any of my work to be posted on third party websites such as Goodreads and e-booktree.com, it is meant for private enjoyment of the reader and not to be broadcasted or posted on any other site other than this account on AO3, MiddleTownDreams on fanfiction, or my tumblr zo-ro-roronoa. I also do not give permission for this or any of my work being read aloud and/or shared with press, or anyone working on the production of One Piece, including but not limited to cast, crew, writers, or producers. Finally do not post this anywhere else without my permission and don't try and pass it off as your work. Thank you.
> 
> Fic recs are okay, in fact I encourage them ;)


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